May’s Brexit deal gets rejected by EU in Austria

The dollar is gaining across the board Friday as a Brexit setback in Austria pulls the pound lower. Purchasing manager’s index numbers from the U.S. and E.U. are mixed.

Greenback gains

After three days of losses, the greenback is up against its peers Friday morning.

The dollar is benefiting from trade uncertainty and the pound’s weakness from the E.U.’s Brexit deal rejection.

EUR/USD is down around 1.173 after touching 1.179 this morning. The Eurozone PMIs for September missed expectations for the composite and manufacturing measurements. The services PMIs for Germany and the Eurozone came out slightly higher than expected.

The composite for the Eurozone came out at 54.2 compared to estimates of 54.4.

PMI day

The Eurozone isn’t the only area with purchasing manager’s index figures Friday.

The U.S. PMIs came out mixed. Unlike the Eurozone, manufacturing PMI was the measurement that surprised on the upside for the U.S. Manufacturing PMI hit 55.6 compared to 55.0.The composite number, however, was held down by services, coming out at 53.4 compared to 55.0.

Brexit rejection

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a blow to her Brexit plan when the E.U. flat out rejected it.

Going into a tow-day meeting in Salzburg, May appeared to be unwilling to make concessions on her Chequers deal. Unfortunately, E.U. leaders were also unwilling to budge.

The summit in Salzburg, Austria ended with no progress and May no needing to come up with a new plan. There is another E.U. summit in Brussels Oct. 18-19, but there are also other issues the bloc will likely focus on.

E.U. officials said that a November summit to sign a Brexit agreement would only move forward if May makes concessions. The sticking points are avoiding a hard border between the U.K. and Ireland and the details of a trade relationship.

GBP/USD is reaching as low as 1.307 after starting the day around 1.327.